Sean P. Means: A farewell to stars we lost in the pop culture world in 2015

With 2015 nearly in the history books, it's a last chance to take a backward look at the entertainers, artists and icons we lost in the pop-culture world:

Leonard Nimoy (83; Feb. 27), in the persona of "Star Trek's" Mr. Spock, was the hero of geek hearts, telling us that being smart and slightly alien was cool.

Grace Lee Whitney (85; May 1) also rode aboard the starship Enterprise, as Yeoman Janice Rand, frequent focus of Captain Kirk's roving eye.

Yvonne Craig (78; Aug. 17) made the hearts of nerd boys of a certain age flutter, both as Batgirl (on the '60s "Batman" series) and as a green-skinned Orion dancer on "Star Trek."

Christopher Lee (93; June 7) made menacing look elegant and cool — whether as Dracula, Saruman the White (in "The Lord of the Rings") or the Sith Lord Count Dooku (in the "Star Wars" prequels).

Maureen O'Hara (95; Oct. 24) became Hollywood's "Queen of Technicolor," and her red hair and Irish temperament was more of a match for John Wayne (with whom she was paired five times) than any gunslinger.

"Rowdy" Roddy Piper (61; July 30) was a bad guy in the wrestling ring and a tough guy in movies (like "They Live"), and we rooted for him in both.

Rod Taylor (84; Jan. 7) was the ruggedly handsome actor who piloted "The Time Machine," fended off "The Birds" and, in a very late-in-life role, played Winston Churchill in Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds."

Omar Sharif (83; July 10) had one of Hollywood's greatest entrances ever — emerging from the horizon in "Laurence of Arabia" — and played one of its most indelible lovers in "Doctor Zhivago."

Patrick Macnee (93; June 25) fought spies and weird villains, always keeping his Savile Row suit perfectly pressed, on the British action series "The Avengers."

Louis Jourdan (93; Feb. 14) brought a French charm to "Gigi" and "Octopussy" and was an effective mad scientist in "Swamp Thing."

Fred Dalton Thompson (73; Nov. 1) made authority figures look respectable in movies ("The Hunt for Red October," "Days of Thunder" and TV's "Law & Order"), but actually being one — in the U.S. Senate and a presidential candidate — was tougher.

Alex Rocco (79; July 18) told off the Corleones in "The Godfather" and paid for it in one of the best violent-death scenes ever.

Dick Van Patten (86; June 23) was TV's most fertile father on "Eight Is Enough" and a frequent comic foil for Mel Brooks ("High Anxiety," "Spaceballs," etc.).

Dean Jones (84; Sept. 1) drove Herbie in "The Love Bug" and became the handsome, if slightly goofy, leading man in a string of Disney live-action films.

Elizabeth Wilson (94; May 9) acted onstage and in film for 60 years, notably as mothers to Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) in "The Graduate" and Charles Van Doren (Ralph Fiennes) in "Quiz Show."

Anne Meara (85; May 23) was one of the funniest women who ever lived, performing with her husband, Jerry Stiller, for decades. (They also produced a funny son, Ben Stiller.)

Geoffrey Lewis (79; April 7) played his fair share of oddballs, usually in Clint Eastwood movies.

Melissa Mathison (65; Nov. 4) was the screenwriter who gave a weird little lump called E.T. a heart.

Jackie Collins (77; Sept. 19) pumped Hollywood gossip into her steamy romance novels, which became best-sellers.

Sam Simon (59; March 8) made a fortune as one of the developers and producers of "The Simpsons" and spent much of it on charitable causes.

Albert Maysles (88; March 5) made documentaries that turned people into celebrities (the Bouviers in "Grey Gardens") and celebrities into people (such as The Rolling Stones in "Gimme Shelter").

Haskell Wexler (93; Dec. 26) used his camera — as cinematographer on "In the Heat of the Night," "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and many others, and directing the landmark "Medium Cool" — to show the world both as it was and how it could be.

Andrew Lesnie (59; April 27) was a cinematographer who captured worlds that didn't exist, specifically the Middle-Earth of Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" and "Hobbit" trilogies.

Bruce Sinofsky (58; Feb. 21), with his documentary partner Joe Berlinger, introduced the world to the Ward brothers in "Brother's Keeper" (1992) and brought attention to the West Memphis 3 in the "Paradise Lost" films.

Richard Glatzer (63; March 10), with his partner, Wash Westmoreland, completed directing "Still Alice," which earned Julianne Moore an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of a professor with Alzheimer's, while dealing with his own diagnosis of ALS.

Wes Craven (76; Aug. 2) unlocked our worst fears in two horror franchises: "A Nightmare on Elm Street," which established many of the clichés of the slasher genre, and "Scream," which mocked those clichés and turned them on their heads.

James Horner (61; June 22) wrote the music for many epic movies, most notably the tragic/romantic score of "Titanic."

B.B. King (89; May 14) brought the blues to the world, channeling his music through his guitar, Lucille.

Ben E. King (76; April 30), no relation, sang "Save the Last Dance for Me" with The Drifters, and as a solo artist scored a hit with "Stand by Me."

Percy Sledge (73; April 14) poured his heartbreak into the lyrics of "When a Man Loves a Woman," which, according to the legend, he made up onstage one night.

Lesley Gore (68; Feb. 16) brought a sly feminist sound to '60s pop, in such hits as "You Don't Own Me" and "It's My Party," before launching a second act as an LGBT TV host about a decade ago.

Allen Toussaint (77; Nov. 9) became an ambassador for New Orleans music as a performer, songwriter and producer for such artists as Paul McCartney and Paul Simon.

Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister (70; Dec. 27) lived as hard as he rocked, and as frontman of Motörhead influenced a generation of heavy metal headbangers.

Scott Weiland (48; Dec. 3) went from being a star of the '90s grunge-rock scene, as frontman for Stone Temple Pilots, to a cautionary tale after cycles of substance abuse, rehab and relapse.

David Carr (58; Feb. 12) was a wickedly sharp columnist and observer of the media, who collapsed at his office — the New York Times newsroom — after surviving years of cocaine addiction that he chronicled in his memoir, "The Night of the Gun."

Stuart Scott (49; Jan. 4) brought fun and a hip-hop style to sportscasts with his various ESPN catchphrases ("Boo-yah!") before showing his courage in a public battle against cancer.

Sean P. Means writes The Cricket in daily blog form at www.sltrib.com/blogs/moviecricket. Follow him on Twitter @moviecricket. Email him at spmeans@sltrib.com.